Americanization and its Limits

Reworking US Technology and Management in Post-war Europe and Japan

Edited by Jonathan Zeitlin and Gary Herrigel

Description

This book develops a new and conceptually distinctive analysis of Americanization in European and Japanese industry after the Second World War, based on a rich set of sectoral and firm-based studies by an international group of distinguished scholars. The authors highlight the autonomous and creative role of local actors in selectively adapting US technology and management methods to suit local conditions and, strikingly, in creating new hybrid forms that combined indigenous and foreign practices in unforeseen and often remarkably competitive ways.

Their findings will be of compelling interest not only to historians and social scientists concerned with the dynamics of post-war economic growth and industrial development, but also to those engaged in contemporary debates about the cross-national transfer and diffusion of productive models.

Americanization and its Limits

Reworking US Technology and Management in Post-war Europe and Japan

Edited by Jonathan Zeitlin and Gary Herrigel

Table of Contents

Chapter 1: Introduction: Americanization and Its Limits: Reworking US Technology and Management in Post-War Europe and Japan, Jonathan ZeitlinPart I: Exporting the American Model? Chapter 2: Americanization: Ideology or Process? The Case of the US Technical Assistance and Productivity Program, Jacqueline McGlade Chapter 3: Transplanting the American Model? US Automobile Companies and the Transfer of Technology and Management to Europe after the Second World War, Steven TollidayPart II: Reworking US Technology and Management: National, Sectoral, and Firm-Level VariationsA: Britain and Sweden Chapter 4: Americanizing British Engineering? Strategic Debate, Selective Adaptation, and Hybrid Innovation in Post-War Reconstruction, Jonathan Zeitlin Chapter 5: Failure to Communicate: British Telecommunications and the American Lesson, Kenneth Lipartito Chapter 6: Creative Cross-Fertilization and Uneven Americanization of Swedish Industry: Sources of Innovation in Post-War Motor Vehicles and Electrical Manufacturing, Henrik GlimstedtB: France and Italy Chapter 7: A Slow and Difficult Process: The Americanization of the French Steel Producing and Using Industries after World War II, Matthias Kipping Chapter 8: Remodelling the Italian Steel Industry: Americanization, Modernization, and Mass Production, Ruggero Ranieri Chapter 9: Mass Production or 'Organized Craftsmanship'? The Post-War Italian Automobile Industry, Duccio BigazziC: Germany and Japan Chapter 10: The Long Shadow of Americanization: The German Rubber Industry and the Radial Tire Revolution, Paul Erker Chapter 11: The Evolution of the 'Japanese Production System': Indigenous Influences and American Impact, Kazuo Wada and Takao Shiba Chapter 12: American Occupation, Market Order, and Democracy: Reconfiguring the Japanese and German Steel Industries after World War II, Gary Herrigel

Americanization and its Limits

Reworking US Technology and Management in Post-war Europe and Japan

Edited by Jonathan Zeitlin and Gary Herrigel

Author Information

Edited by Jonathan Zeitlin, Professor of History, Sociology, and Industrial Relations, University of Wisconsin-Madison, USA; Jean Monnet Fellow, European University Institute, Florence, Italy, and Gary Herrigel, Associate Professor of Political Science, University of Chicago, USA

Americanization and its Limits

Reworking US Technology and Management in Post-war Europe and Japan

Edited by Jonathan Zeitlin and Gary Herrigel

Reviews and Awards

"A major addition to [the] literature ... this book is a major enrichment of our understanding of 'Americanization', combining a rich array of new research with a rigorous attention to problems of conceptualization." - The Historical Journal

"This book is essential reading for anyone interested in post-war international economic history and the development of an internationalized business culture. It also provides a salutary reminder about the limited prospects of a national business model being transferred wholesale even in the era of the new economy and revived American dominance." - English Historical Review

"This book will be of great value to economic as well as business historians, particularly those with an interest in the development of globalization ... the project is truly international in its scholarly dimensions." - English Historical Review

"The detailed essays provide some fascinating examples of transatlantic interaction ... this is an important book bringing together for the first time a great deal of useful information." - History

"This book is the best by far of the recent spate of studies of Americanization, and it will be invaluable to scholars and students in a variety of fields." - Technology and Culture